The University of Georgia
PhD/Professor
Tbilisi/Georgia
merabghaghanidze@yahoo.com
Abstract
Prince Vakhushti (1696-1756), in his work, “Description of the Kingdom of Georgia” (1745), – after discussing two names for the country (Sakartvelo, Iveria), mentions and discusses a third name, which is not used among the local inhabitants themselves, the Georgians, but, like the previous two, is connected with the content of the country and its history, even if only as a legend: this name is “Georgia”.
The historian believes that “Georgia”, unlike “Sakartvelo” and “Iveria”, is not a Georgian name (as “Iveria”), since it is based on the foreign language “George”, which is translated as “worker”, that is, worker (although it is not specified – from which language). According to Vakhushti, non-Georgians gave the country such a name because of the Georgians’ pronounced steadfast, hardworking (“thriftiness and industriousness”), since foreigners clearly noticed this very quality of the country’s inhabitants, the Georgians, and based on this distinctive, determining quality, they gave the nameless land (nameless – from their perspective) such a name.
In addition, – and this turned out to be the second reason for the country’s naming, – the name “Georgia” is based on the name of St. George, who was a relative of St. Nino, or, more precisely, a relative of St. Nino’s father, Zabilon of Cappadocia.
It can be said that, according to Vakhushti, St. George is doubly connected with the country, because, on the one hand, he is a relative of the father of his enlightener, St. Nino, and, on the other hand, after the kingdom was Christianized as a result of the activities of St. Nino, many miracles occurred in this land - precisely thanks to this saint; moreover, in the entire state ("throughout Iveria"), there was not a single hill or mound left anywhere around where a church of St. George had not been built. So, the name of such a close and revered St. George, with whom the country's close connection, according to the historian, is so clear, undoubtedly determined the name of the country.
Further, it is worth noting that, from the point of view of the historian, the foreign names of the country, whether European or Eastern, Greek or Russian, correspond precisely to this “Georgia”, but due to orthographic differences, they are written and pronounced differently in different languages. It is noticeable that Prince Vakhushti found one basis in all the foreign names of the country, and this basis was the name “Georgia”.
It is noteworthy that the third name of the united country, “Georgia,” which was introduced into the Georgian historiographical and cultural context by Prince Vakhushti himself and was the first to mention and explain, among Georgians and in Georgian, this non-Georgian name expressed the perception of how the country appeared from the world’s perspective, and it was important that the country seen from this perspective was indivisible, whole, united, and called by one name.
Keywords: Vakhushti, George, Georgia, Name.